Well, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks! We’re trying hard to stay healthy, but those pesky germs are flying around 4M! Nonetheless, we have been working diligently on a couple of projects. In reading, we are almost finished reading Shiloh. The students continue to excel at discussing what they have read. Their opinions and commentary are insightful and show a wonderful understanding of the characters and their motivations. It’s been a joy to observe these conversations. We have also been working on writing a fictional narrative independently. They are writing about finding a magical sled and what happens after they find it. They are using a t-chart graphic organizer to plan and organize before writing. Then, they will revise, edit and publish a final draft. I met with many students this week to discuss the narrative they wrote last month and we identified strengths and areas for practice. I will finish these conferences next week and then send their writing home to share with you. The traditional method of dividing was finally introduced this week! Students can select either method (partial quotients or traditional) to use and master. The Unit 6 math test will be on Monday. This will cover long division, interpreting remainders in a word problem, measuring angles and plotting coordinate pairs on a grid. Everyone brought their corrected study guide home on Friday and also made a practice worksheet to review over the weekend. Thank you to Tracy Panuschka-Botelho and Jill Berardi for helping with math games today. So, we accomplished a lot during this short week! I am proud of everyone for staying focused while snowflakes fell and many of us were feeling under the weather. Thank you to Julie Donahue for sending in bottles of hand sanitizer and big boxes of tissues. Everything is being put to good use!

Ask a Fourth Grader!* In an coordinate pair, which direction does the first number go? * What lessons did Marty learn in the book, Shiloh? How did Marty show courage? * How do you use a t-chart to organize your narrative writing? * What is important to remember when measuring an angle with a protractor?